


Someone Else

by kcstories



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: hd_fluff, Fluff, Getting Together, HP: EWE, Hogwarts Era, M/M, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-25
Updated: 2007-04-25
Packaged: 2018-07-23 15:28:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7469019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kcstories/pseuds/kcstories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry looks glum. Draco wants answers. One surprise soon leads to another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Someone Else

**Author's Note:**

> **Pairing:** Harry/Draco (Past Harry/Ginny mentioned, Ron/Lavender, Hermione/Theodore, Ginny/Neville)  
>  **Warnings:** AU. Fluff and a bit of flangst.  
>  **Disclaimer:** The Potterverse is JKR's, not mine.

The bright colours of the pretty spring flowers that grace the tables of the cosy tavern are a shrill contrast to the aura of gloom that seems to surround Harry Potter as he sits there, holding his glass of Butterbeer as if he's cradling it.   
  
Draco saunters over, puts his drink down and takes the chair across from Harry. "Potter,” he says.   
  
Harry gives him a small smile. “Hello, Malfoy.”   
  
Draco frowns. "You look like crap,” he remarks matter-of-factly.   
  
Harry stares down at his half-empty glass as he says in a voice that's barely louder than a whisper, "Ginny and I broke up last night."   
  
Draco hesitates a beat before he asks, "Do you want to talk about it?"   
  
"No."   
  
Draco raises a skeptical eyebrow. He knows Harry too well now. He recognises a brush-off when he hears one. "Yes, you do, Potter," he says flatly. "So out with it. I’m listening."   
  
"Well, we'd been drifting apart for quite a while, and…" Harry sighs.   
  
"Was she seeing someone else behind your back?"   
  
"No," he says quickly. “No, it wasn't anything like that.”   
  
But something in Harry’s voice implies there's more to the story still, so Draco ventures another guess. "Are _you_ seeing someone else?"   
  
"What?" Harry almost yells.   
  
"You heard me. It's a simple enough question,” Draco says. Though not quite _that_ simple, he thinks, and he has to wonder how Harry could have sneaked something like that past him in the first place if it really is true.   
  
When Draco first made his true allegiance known two years ago and joined the Order, the two of them called a reluctant truce. Not before long, it turned into a genuine friendship and after Voldemort’s defeat, when the time had finally come to return to Hogwarts, it was almost as if their bitter rivalry had never even existed.   
  
These days, they're the best of friends. The kind who don't keep secrets. Or so Draco thought anyway.   
  
Harry clears his throat. "I'm not _seeing someone_ , exactly; it's just-"   
  
"You _fancy_ someone else?"   
  
Harry bites his lip and nods slowly.   
  
Draco smirks. "All right, who is it, Potter? Not Granger, I hope? I don't think Nott's the type who'd be prepared to share."   
  
Harry takes a deep breath. "It would be a lot less complicated if it was Hermione," he says solemnly.   
  
“Less complicated?” Draco regards him questioningly. "In what sense?"   
  
They sit in silence for a few minutes. Draco looks intrigued and Harry seems to grow more uncomfortable by the minute, until he finally cracks. "Fine," he snaps. "If you absolutely must know, Malfoy, it's you. I'm in love with _you_. Happy now?"   
  
Draco’s eyes grow as wide as saucers. “Me?” he says, and overcome with nerves, he starts to laugh, because after a revelation like that, it’s the only reaction he can manage.   
  
Shaking his head angrily, Harry leaps up from his seat. “I should have known better," he says bitterly. “I guess you can go back to turning me into a laughing stock now. And be sure to tell Parkinson all about this too. I’m sure she’ll get a kick out of it as well.”   
  
With that, he stomps out of the tavern, slamming the door behind him.   
  
Snapped out of his shock, Draco gets up and rushes after Harry, but once outside, he can't see the boy anywhere. He probably Apparated away.   
  
Cursing loudly, Draco kicks a rock across the street and wonders why the inner Hufflepuff he didn’t even know he possessed had to pick such a terribly unfortunate moment to introduce himself.   


* * *

  
  
They avoid each other during dinner, the next day at breakfast and then also at lunch.   
  
Not that Draco doesn’t try to get Harry’s attention, but at every attempt, the Gryffindor looks away, pretends not to notice or makes sure he’s busy with some of his Housemates so Draco wouldn’t be able to get a word in edgewise even if he tried.   
  
Around three in the afternoon, Draco purposefully strides into the Gryffindor Common Room. He finds Harry sitting on a sofa, looking glum.   
  
“Potter,” Draco says. It comes out a lot harsher than intended.   
  
Startled, Harry looks up. “How the hell did you get in, Malfoy?” he snaps.   
  
"Lavender Brown was kind enough to open the door for me.”   
  
"Right.” Harry crosses his arms. “Of course. That interfering little-"   
  
Draco ignores the slew of insults that follows and sits down next to Harry. "We need to talk, Potter,” he says.   
  
Harry shakes his head. "There's nothing to discuss, Malfoy. I managed to make a spectacular fool of myself yesterday, and I’m not prepared to do it again today."   
  
“Fair enough. Then will you at least do me the courtesy of listening to what I have to say? And if you don’t like what you hear, you have my word that I won’t ever mention any of this again - to you or to anyone else."   
  
"Fine," Harry says and sighs resignedly. "Let's get this over with, then."   
  
"Right." Draco runs a hand through his hair and takes a deep breath before he continues, "The fact of the matter is that I've been giving this whole... issue a lot of thought these past few hours. I hardly slept last night, in fact. And…" He takes Harry's hand. “I don’t know what my exact feelings for you are, but they do seem to go deeper than mere friendship. At this point, I can’t really define them, because honestly, I have no idea. I've never actually been in love, you see, but..."   
  
"Yes?" Harry says softly. His earlier anger seems to have disappeared completely.   
  
"Basically…” Draco swallows hard. “What I’m trying to say is... I think we might be onto something here."   
  
Harry’s eyes widen. "We-we- Really?"   
  
"Yes. If you're still interested after my… hardly appropriate reaction yesterday, that is."   
  
Harry nods. "I've been interested for ages," he confesses.   
  
“Good.”   
  
They look at each other again, quietly, until Draco finally breaks the strange silence. "I think I'm supposed to kiss you now," he whispers, before he leans in and does just that.   
  
Harry feels his eyes flutter shut. He starts to kiss Draco back and all he can think is that this is even nicer than he imagined.   
  
"About bloody time,” a third voice suddenly rings through the room.   
  
Startled, the boys break apart and turn their heads around to face Lavender Brown, who’s standing there with her hands on her hips and the smuggest of expressions on her face.   
  
"I'm glad you think so, Brown," Draco says. He has already regained his composure while Harry’s sitting there blushing furiously. "Though I doubt your boyfriend will feel the same."   
  
"I'll handle Ron.” The girl shrugs dismissively. “Piece of cake."   
  
"I'll hold you to that," Draco says, before he turns to his companion and whispers, "Come on, let's go somewhere more private. We don't need an audience for this."   
  
Hand in hand, they walk off, and as soon as they’re safely out of sight, Lavender runs up to the sixth year girls’ dorms.   
  
“Harry just got together with Malfoy,” she informs the redhead sitting by the window.   
  
Ginny looks up from her magazine and frowns. “They certainly didn’t waste any time, did they? So, um, do you think it would be too soon for me to-"   
  
"Neville went down to the lake fifteen minutes ago,” Lavender says simply. “You'll probably still catch him if you hurry.”   
  
"Right." Ginny throws her magazine down, gets up and with a quick “Cheers, Lav. I owe you one,” runs out the room.   
  
Lavender smiles. _So far, so good,_ she thinks, and then quickly makes her way to the kitchen.   
  
She’ll have to tell Ron about these new developments as soon as possible, before he finds out on his own, and she has a strong suspicion he might find the news a little easier to swallow if there’s pumpkin pie available.   
  
And should the Weasley temper get out of hand regardless... 

There's still the calming potion she borrowed from Snape's cabinet that morning too.


End file.
